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Monday, 17 December 2012

Republican Guard Members Sentenced in Yemen

A Yemeni military court sentenced 93 members of the Republican Guard to prison terms of up to seven years for an attack on a military complex in August, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.

Hundreds of guardsmen attacked a Defense Ministry compound in Sana but were captured by other military forces, and about a hundred were arrested.

The sentences, which were more lenient than expected, were announced amid heightened tensions between factions loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose son commands the Republican Guard, and the interim government led by President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

On Tuesday, the former president’s son, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Saleh, refused orders to hand over long-range missiles to the Defense Ministry, raising fears of a showdown that would threaten the fragile transition of power that was worked out in February.

The United States and Persian Gulf states fear that political instability in Yemen could allow a branch of Al Qaeda based there to mount strikes against Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping lanes.

The Republican Guard, the best-equipped of Yemen’s military units, is seen as important in efforts to contain Al Qaeda and other Islamist groups that took over towns in the south this year.

Former President Saleh, who was pushed from power in February after more than a year of protests, was granted immunity from prosecution and is seen by some Yemeni politicians as intent on finding ways to retain influence.

Judge Abdulmalik Ali Rashid al-Arshi convicted the members of the Republican Guard of offenses that included assaulting a defense complex in Sana, the capital, on Aug. 14; deserting their military posts; refusing orders from President Hadi; murder and attempted murder, a statement on the Defense Ministry’s Web site said.

The men were sentenced to prison terms of three to seven years, while five other Republican Guard members were acquitted, according to the ministry’s statement.

The assault on the complex in August was set off by President Hadi’s decision to put two Republican Guard brigades under the control of the southern and central military regions, which are not under General Saleh’s control.